CAN Info Mail

This monthly email is for all CAN fellows.
March 2022

A word from the CiA Managing Director

On March 5, 1992, six companies and two individuals – I was one of them – have established the CAN in Automation (CiA) international users’ and manufacturers’ group. Today, more than 700 companies and other legal entities have joined the nonprofit CiA association. In the beginning, this industry consortia focused on the development of non-automotive CAN applications. Nowadays, CiA members develop and specify also the CAN lower layers and support all industries using CAN-based technologies. In total, CiA specifications comprise more than 25 000 pages; most of them are CANopen application, device, and interface profiles for generic type of devices and dedicated applications.

In the 30 years’ CiA history, I educated and trained far more than ten thousand of engineers in CAN technology. I met many CAN fellows all over the world and some of them became long-time business partners and even friends with long personal relationships. I appreciated the always respectful and co-operative behavior in CiA group meetings. In the 30 years, there was just one situation, when I asked as host during a CiA meeting one person to close the door from outside, in order to continue the constructive technical discussion.

One important CiA milestone was the organization of the international CAN Conferences (iCC). The first one took place in 1994 and was followed by 16 others. The related conference proceedings comprise not just several thousand pages of CAN knowledge and experiences, but they are also a source of prior art information, when it comes to intellectual property issues. Most of the iCC papers can be downloaded free of charge from the CiA website.

From the early CiA days, I edited the CAN Newsletter. In June 1992, the first issue was published with some brief news. Step-by-step, the quarterly Newsletter became a magazine with technical in-depth articles and reports about CAN applications. In 2011, the CAN Newsletter Online sister publication was launched providing mainly news about CAN products. Nowadays, the formerly printed CAN Newsletter magazine is released in PDF format. Both publications are a unique source of CAN-related information.

CiA was and is highly committed to support international standardization of CAN technology. CiA employees represent CiA members in international and national standardization bodies (e.g. IEC, ISO, CEN, CENELEC, and DIN). Additionally, CiA cooperates with other nonprofit associations (e.g. AEF, IEEE, and SAE). On demand of CiA members, any CiA specification is submitted to standardization bodies. I am personally active in several ISO working groups (WG) and convene the WG for in-vehicle networks and the WG for road vehicle network applications.

Looking back to the 30-year CiA history, I can say that I am happy to have had the opportunity to serve the CAN community. I still believe that there is a bright future for CAN technologies ahead of us. I remember that some people told me shortly before the millennium, CAN will disappear in ten years: You should better look for a new job. To be honest, in those days, I did not expect that there will be three generations of CAN data link layers (DLL): Classical CAN, CAN FD, and CAN XL. With these improved DLL protocols and the SIC (signal improvement capability) transceiver technologies, CAN is well prepared for the future and can continue its success story.

 

CAN XL submitted for ISO standardization

The CAN XL and CAN FD Light specifications will be included in the new editions of the ISO 11898-1 and ISO 11898-2 standards. In January, the ISO TC (technical committee) 22, SC (sub-committee) 31, WG (working group) 3 discussed the integration of the CiA 610-1 (CAN XL data link layer and physical coding sub-layer), CiA 610-3 (CAN XL physical attachment unit sub-layer), and CiA 601-4 (CAN SIC physical attachment unit sub-layer). Additionally, the CiA 604-1 (CAN FD Light) will be introduced as annex to ISO 11898-1.

March issue of the CAN Newsletter magazine

The first issue of the CAN Newsletter magazine 2022 is published. This includes a new series called “history and trends” which focuses on dedicated application fields with feature articles about CAN in elevators, CAN in agriculture, as well as CAN lower OSI layers. There is also an article about the CiA history and its birthday as well as one about how to improve automotive CAN diagnostics. Additionally, the new section “standards and specifications” is introduced reporting about documents released by CiA and other nonprofit associations as well as standardization bodies. Of course, a range of other articles with various topics from the categories automotive and CANopen, are provided.

The articles can be downloaded individually or you can download the entire magazine.

CiA’s anniversary party

On June 1 and June 2, CiA celebrates its 30th anniversary with an in-person event in Nuremberg (Germany). The two-day event comprises four sessions with presentations and includes the regular annual general assembly with election of the board of directors and members of the CiA Technical Committee and the CiA Business Committee. At the second day, some CiA technical groups have the opportunity to meet. In parallel to these meetings, the newly-elected CiA Business Committee pre-discusses the requirements for 2023. For registration please contact CiA office by email. Reserve not just the date, but also a seat. The number of participants is limited due to the event location.

CAN Newsletter Online

Interview: How to make the VR Seat Buck work
Deditec has developed a control system for the VR Seat Buck on behalf of Prove Realities (both Germany). In a Q&A which was released as a press release, Dipl. Ing. Juergen Siebert, Managing Director of Deditec, explained how the latest customer project was implemented.

CiA workshop: Body application units for fire-fighting vehicles

On March 29 (12:00 to 15:00, UTC+2), an online workshop on “body applications for fire-fighting vehicles” takes place. This includes especially the planned CANopen profile specification for aerial working platforms and the profile for ladder control. Additionally, requirements on leg stabilization sub-systems will be discussed. The integration of DIN 14700 sub-system connecting fire-fighting equipment is a topic, too. The objective is to identify new profiles to be developed and extend the existing once (CiA 413, DIN 4630, DIN 14700, and DIN 14704). This workshop is organized by the CiA special interest group (SIG) fire-fighting. If you are interested in attending the free-of-charge workshop, please contact CiA office. The workshops are intended for CiA members, but guests are welcome, as well.

Online seminars
Webinars

Technology day

Workshops

1 in English language
2 in Chinese language
3 in German language

New CiA members since the last CiA Info Mail (CIM)

CiA has 720 members (March 01, 2022).

CiA Product Guides

Renewed entries

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